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THROUGHOUR STORIES

Whether through the spoken word, in writing, or through song and music, our community of students, alumni, faculty and supporters are constantly creating – and this is the place to find those teachings, events, music, the weekly Parsha and achievements.

Month: September 2014

Ralph Mannhimer has been a member of the Board since its founding. In addition to his years of service on the Board, Ralph agreed to serve as our Chief Financial Officer from 2008 until his retirement in 2014, overseeing several improvements to our financial systems as the Academy grew, went through the process of accreditation and was certified to obtain Federal loans for our students. Here is how he describes his first encounter with AJRCA-to-be:

“About thirteen years ago, my friend, Rabbi, and teacher Stan Levy asked me to join him for lunch. Stan asked me to serve on the Board of the Academy and I agreed. Thirteen years later I look back with a great feeling of personal satisfaction and accomplishment. The Academy’s growth has been phenomenal – over 100 graduates from an accredited school! It has been a labor of love to be associated with and to support the Academy financially.”

Rabbi Joseph Levine was the thirteenth child of immigrant parents from Russia. He grew up in a traditional home in Pennsylvania. As a young man, however, he came under the influence of Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, who represented for him an American rabbi, living out his ancient heritage in a modern democratic nation. America was a marvel to my father and its heroes were real to him. Rabbi Wise encouraged his ambition to become a rabbi.

When the Jewish community of Texarkana asked him to be their rabbi in the 1950s, it was a marriage made in heaven. They were becoming more open and American, including developing relationships with the Christians of Texarkana. My father reached out to all, and they welcomed him in turn. The Jewish and Christian groups met in synagogues and churches, shared ritual and symbolism, and learned the value of each other’s traditions without fear.

Cantor William Sharlin’s biography is in some ways the story of the American cantorate. He was a member of the first graduating class of the first cantorial school in America: the School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College (HUC), and a founding member of the American Conference of Cantors. He is recognized as the first professional Jewish camp song leader, and the first to play a guitar in the synagogue. He was one of only a handful of cantors with an advanced degree in composition (Manhattan School of Music). He developed the Department of Sacred Music at HUC in Los Angeles, and taught there for fifty years. He trained women to be cantors before they were allowed into the seminary. His nearly forty years at Leo Beack Temple were among the most musically inventive in the history of the cantorate.